I’m a few days early, June isn’t quite over yet, but that’s ok. So what did I do this month? …Not much that I can remember. I actually did quite a bit of cleaning, pushed my body more than I should’ve, but sometimes you don’t really have a choice. So I’ve been too exhausted to really watch movies/shows or play games much, and I definitely did not have the energy to make any more art.
I shared a song from Arcane last month, but I’ve still been listening to the soundtrack a lot, so here’s another fantastic song. Something I wouldn’t normally listen to, what with all my headaches, but it’s just so good.
Let’s just get to the books because I do have a lot of those to talk about. Also, if you play games (especially visual novels) and didn’t see my recent post about games with nonbinary characters, please do check that out because there really are some great games on that list!
Blog/Bookish Updates:
Nothing this month.
Books I Received for Review:
June was a great month for me with the Libro.fm ALC program. I have not managed to listen to most of these yet, but I am excited for them!
The Unmagical Life of Briar Jones by Lex Croucher – Dark academia fantasy about former best friends with a nonbinary protag.
Nemesis Mine by Amy Archer – M/M romance between a hero and villain with a fake feud.
Bright Dead Things by Hailey Turner – M/M second chance romance while traveling to a dangerous fae court, and I’ve enjoyed another series by this author and narrator.
Devils We Know by L. T. Thompson – Second-in-series YA historical fantasy about queer teen sailors/pirates.
The Disco at the End of the World by Nathan Tavares (sci-fi in an alternate version of our world, queer counterculture, and a bit of romance.
I also got Midnight Project by M.N. Arzu, from the author. A vampire gets help from a hematologist when blood is killing him instead of sustaining him. It sounds like a unique vampire book!
And I got The Lure of Wolves and Whispers by Amanda Connolly, from Simon & Schuster. It’s the first in a trilogy, described as “Irish lore-inspired romantasy [that] follows one sister who offers her life in exchange for the other’s.” It also has magic and competition and court intrigue, all of which sounds great! This is also a surprisingly beautiful cover. I mean, it does already look pretty because it’s a nice design, but then you get it in your hands and move it around in the light, and the wolves have this holographic/iridescent thing going on 😍 My pictures don’t do it justice. Also, I know they’re not very aesthetic photos, just cropped close-ups, but I needed you all to see the colors changing. The hardcover itself is black with white text on the spine.
Books I Finished:
If you’re considering buying any of these books from Amazon, I’d really appreciate if you’d use my affiliate link!
The Disco at the End of the World by Nathan Tavares – I described it above. It wasn’t quite for me, but it had some unique ideas and lots of queer joy without ignoring the difficulties.
“A vampire gets help from a hematologist when blood is killing him instead of sustaining him. It sounds like a unique vampire book!”
Ha! unique indeed. Which is no small feat, since there’s a plethora of vampire books available…Also, apparently you got lots of other books that sound promising!
I’m sorry to hear you got to push your body past its limits…at least you don’t suffer from the heat, or you would have been even more miserable.
Yeah, it’s not a premise I’ve come across, and I did get so many good sounding books! Thanks <3 I've heard about the heat, it sounds brutal to not have AC.
Sorry to hear you had to push your body more than you should, that sounds rough. Nice haul you got of new books, I hope they’re all good ones. That physical copy of The Lure of Wolves and Whispers looks so pretty with the changing colors.
Thanks <3 I am excited for all the books at least!
That vampire book sounds cool and that werewolf cover looks really cool. I’m haven’t been reading like I used to mainly because it took me a long time to read a certain book I can’t name here. Back in April, I started listening to Crime and Punishment and I finished it in May. So this month (June), I have been listening to The Future by Naomi Alderman. It’s so good. I am almost through with it. I will start reading You Killed Me First by John Marrs hopefully by next week.
I haven’t been reading like I used to either. But I’m glad your current book is a good one! I don’t think I’m familiar with it, I’ll have to look it up.
I loooove the Arcane soundtrack.